Where You Belong
by buffygirl52789
Summary: In many ways, Gil Grissom’s life had started with a cup of coffee. GSR.


**Rating:** PG  
**Pairing:** GSR of course. ;)  
**Timeline:** Somewhere around Way to Go. SPOILERS through the season 6 finale!  
**Words:** 757  
**Disclaimer:** If I owned CSI, it wouldn't have taken 6 years. 'Nuff said.  
**Author's Note:** When I woke up this morning I had no intention of writing a GSR fic...but between a lovely dream I had last night and just doing some thinking about them in general this morning, inspiration struck. While I was in the shower phrases and sentences started coming to me in a muse attack stronger than I've experienced in a good long while, and then I rushed to the computer and got it all down before I could forget. Feedback is love, but please be gentle since this is my first writing venture in this fandom. :) Lyrics at the beginning and end are from the song "Speechless" by The Veronicas and served as inspiration for this little fic.

_I didn't see you coming  
You took me by surprise and  
You stole my heart before I could say no_

In many ways, Gil Grissom's life had started with a cup of coffee.

He could still see it so clearly; her sparkling brown eyes and gap-toothed grin that he had instantly adored as she invited him to get that life-changing drink after his lecture in San Francisco. He didn't like to think about how different his life might have turned out if he had said no. And he almost had. Every logical, scientific bone in his body had told him to say no. But for some reason, he had chosen that moment to defy his instincts for the first time in his life. And from that day on there was no turning back. She had blown into his life and altered it permanently, for better or for worse.

Now, years later, as he watched her sleep in his bed, they had finally come full circle. His only regret was how long it had taken to get here. He forced himself not to think about all the years of potential bliss they had missed out on simply because he was too cowardly to take a chance. That man who had gone against what was rational and agreed to get a cup of coffee had disappeared on him, and for too long he had given in to the more logical side of his brain.

He was fairly sure he could pinpoint the moment when he had finally realized how wrong he had been. At the mental hospital, when she had been held at knifepoint by Adam Trent, and their eyes had met from opposite sides of the glass. He had never been so scared in his life, not just for her well-being, but also at the possibility that maybe he was finally, absolutely too late. Thankfully that day had not been the end, and from the depths of his being that man who was willing to take a chance had emerged once again. It still hadn't been easy. He had driven around the block four times that night before finally working up the nerve to knock on her door. But he had turned a possible ending into a beginning, and he had never made a better decision in his life.

It seemed like pure insanity when he thought back on the time when he had thought she wasn't worth it. Not worth what, exactly? His career, a bunch of diplomas and awards on a wall? Sure, he loved his job and he wouldn't be who he was without it- he wouldn't have met her without it. But she had always been the one to make the first move. If it wasn't for her initiative, he may have eventually forgotten the eager, bright girl who had asked more questions during his lecture than the other hundred students combined. She had tried to take that initiative again, years later, with a simple dinner invitation that held the opportunity for something more. She was the brave one, and that was one of the things he loved most about her.

Part of him had been amazed that she had taken this leap with him after so many years full of let-downs on his part. He wouldn't have blamed her for a second if she had closed the door in his face that night after everything he had put her through, but she hadn't. And now they were both finally happy, enjoying what they could have had so long ago if only a few different choices had been made, if only he had known just how worth it she really was.

She stirred suddenly, her eyelids fluttering open as she focused on him, staring at her. "What is it?" she asked sleepily, stretching out her long legs beneath the sheets.

"Just thinking," he said simply. "I love you."

"I love you too," she replied, giving him a sleepy smile. Even though they said them daily now, the words hadn't lost any of the meaning they had possessed the first time. She scooted closer to him in the bed, turning her back to him as he put his arms around her, holding her close. A content sigh escaped her lips as her eyes closed again. He looked down at her, trying to fathom how he had gotten this lucky. Every step he had taken since that coffee shop in San Francisco had been part of a too long, often misguided journey that had finally brought him here. And for the first time, Gil Grissom knew he was exactly where he was supposed to be.

_It's like I've spent forever searching  
Now I know that it was worth it  
With you it feels like I am finally home_


End file.
